As the Chinese economy continues to sputter, prominent corporate executives in China and Western economists say there is evidence that local and provincial officials are falsifying economic statistics to disguise the true depth of the troubles.

In a country where reportedly a quarter of the population lives in poverty and 70 percent live without electricity, a bubble sounds like an odd way to describe what is happening in a part of Myanmar. If the ultimate trophies for international investors are the nation’s rich resources, such as natural gas, tungsten and gems, let’s just call it a gold rush.

China has spent nearly $1 billion on an ultra-deepwater rig that appears intended to explore disputed areas of the South China Sea, one of Asia’s most volatile hotspots and where the United States is strengthening ties with Beijing’s rival claimants.

The Chinese Communist Party’s control of the People’s Liberation Army is so sensitive that discussion about whether the military should instead put the state first is rarely heard. But with the tussle for senior positions within the party in its final stages, the matter is being aired in the official army newspaper and is sneaking onto microblogs. For the nation to prosper and move confidently forward, the generals and their troops have to be politically neutral. It is a process that must be gradual and will take time to evolve, so open debate is necessary and important.

China’s top advisory body called on the government to relax property market restrictions to keep the economy growing, a newspaper said on Wednesday, the first such proposal by advisers to steady a weakening house market.

Monday, 18 June 2012

In Rangoon's hotel lobbies anticipation is high. Brash
Australian miners rub shoulders with hard-nosed American private equity
investors. Indonesian infrastructure specialists and Japanese salesmen scout
out the terrain.

The last time I reviewed Bordeaux 2003, it was the non-Firsts in March last year. A host of the 2003s (non-Firsts) were tasted, and my conclusion then was that most of them were not ready unless you could not contain yourself.